The Second Largest Robbery of Our Time

By Elvinas Kukys – v2_lawblog

John Goddard a 58 year old messenger working for the broker Sheppards, was mugged whilst carrying a briefcase on a quiet London side street. Incidentally, the contents of that briefcase contained £292 million in bearer bonds that Goddard was delivering from the Bank of England Treasury to various banks and building societies. Legally, the person in possession of a bearer bond is deemed the owner and can at any point cash in these bonds. He was held at knifepoint, whilst an assailant made off with 301 Treasury bills, most valued at £1 million each. This is an offense of robbery as defined by Section 8 of the Theft Act 1968 which states:

Robbery.

(1)A person is guilty of robbery if he steals, and immediately before or at the time of doing so, and in order to do so, he uses force on any person or puts or seeks to put any person in fear of being then and there subjected to force.

(2)A person guilty of robbery, or of an assault with intent to rob, shall on conviction on indictment be liable to imprisonment for life.

Referenced From: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1968/60

Keith Cheeseman was arrested in connection to the crime and received a 6 and a half year sentence. Police believe that the mugging was carried out by Patrick Thomas, but he was found dead of a gunshot wound to the head before he could be charged. It’s amazing that the second largest robbery in history was carried out by a low level thief brandishing only a knife on an insignificant back street. In similar fashion to a simple phone mugging that you might see in the news to date.

Tell us what you think in the comments bellow.

You can follow us on: www.facebook.com/v2lawblog

www.twitter.com/v2_lawblog

If you have any questions or suggestions – write to us: v2lawblog@gmail.com

Please Note: This guidance is for information purposes only and is not intended to replace legal advice when faced with a risk decision.